Illusion of Normal
by Rednic
Summary: Forced to go out on a social outing in order to stay on active duty, Ranger and his friend Marissa find that being normal is not as easy as it appears to be.Sequel to Unexpected. Warning:This story contains a side of Ranger JE would never let us see.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer:_ Most of the characters in this story belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

Marissa Carter is my own fictional character.

**This is neither a Babe or Cupcake story. **

"Hmmm. It says here that the five most deadliest jobs for men are fishermen, logging workers, pilots, iron or steel workers and farmers or ranchers." Marissa said as she stared intently at the page before her.

Sitting in a nondescript building in downtown Trenton was not her idea of fun. To make it even more irritating she was sitting with Ranger waiting see their assigned psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Paisley. Talk about having an interesting day.

Ranger leaned forward and glanced at the front of the magazine in her hands. "And you expect me to take this list seriously?"

"What?"

"It's in Glamour Magazine that's what?"

"What's wrong with that? It's a highly respected periodical."

Ranger snorted. "You should know better Mari. Where the hell are they getting their information?"

"It's quoted as being from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupation Injuries report." she explained.

"I rest my case." he said smugly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with a frown.

"Mari, you and I both know that such bureaus and departments are fronts for what they really do."

"And just what do they really do?"

He stared at her. "If you don't know then that information is not within the scope of your pay grade."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? Did you just go all superior on me?"

Silence.

She glared at him before turning her focus back to the magazine. "Now, as I was saying," she sent a sharp look at Ranger, "It doesn't say anything here about bounty hunters or black ops."

Ranger failed to see the connection. "So?"

"So it means that you can stop cock-blocking yourself. Your job is not that dangerous."

"Mari." His tone held a warning.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you need to stop punishing yourself for reasons beyond my mental capacity and enjoy the fact that there could be a woman out there who will love you, assault rifle and all."

"Didn't we already have this discussion? I remember using the words _butt out_ and _none of your business_."

She waved a dismissive hand at him. "I can't remember. You usually tell me those things once a day. It's hard to keep track."

"And yet still, here you are again being a pain in my ass."

"Sorry. But your threats only work on women that actually want something from you, or are afraid of you." she said giving him a tight smile.

"And you're none of those things?"

She shook her head. "Not since I kicked your butt during that sparing session four years ago."

"I let you win." he shot back defensively.

"Let me?" she balked. "As I recall I pinned you to the mat in under a minute. And not only did I have to use my Xena strength, but I also had to rely upon my concentration skills to block out the sound of your whining."

He glared at her. "I don't whine Agent Carter." His eyes narrowed. "And as I recalled, you were fighting dirty and brushing your breasts all over people while we were grappling."

"I can't help the fact that I have breasts Carlos. It's not like I can put them in a locker or store them in my pocket. And if you didn't want to spar with me Tank and Les were right there too. You're just a sore loser and mad because you got beaten by a woman."

"You didn't beat me. Like I said, I let you win."

"Puuhleez." Marissa said rolling her eyes. "Don't be ashamed to admit you're getting old and rusty. You need to leave all that fighting and running around to the younger boys. You're almost forty. Things break easier and it takes longer to heal now. I'm sure General Miller would be happy to give you a desk job at the Defense Department. Something in training perhaps."

Ranger's eyebrows shot up. "Are you seriously trying to fucking piss me off?"

She stared at him innocently and shrugged. "I'm just saying."

Marissa went back to reading her magazine while trying to keep the smile that was threatening to break free from within her at bay. Five, four, three, two...

"I'm not getting old or losing my edge. I'm still the best in my field. And I'm disappointed that you have so little faith in me to even think about me like that." His eyes glinted dangerously at her.

"I do have faith in you Carlos. But the reality of the situation is that sometimes we just have to let go and take the path that life wants us to lead."

He gave her a blank look. What the hell was she talking about? Better question was why was she talking like a Buddhist monk?

"And what path is life wanting you to lead?" he asked just for the hell of it.

She closed her eyes momentarily then huffed out a loud sigh. "I want to not be weird."

Ranger blinked. "What?"

"Weird." she said again as she snapped the magazine closed and slapped it viciously back down on the coffee table. "I lack emotional skills Carlos. According to Dr. Paisley, I emotionally extract myself from highly expressive situations, and cocoon myself in a shell of self-preservation instead of dealing with what I'm feeling. He said that I intentionally sabotage my relationships for fear of exposing my weaknesses and having to adapt and accept my vulnerabilities."

_Wow_, Ranger thought, _what a mouthful of bullshit_. No wonder he never like Dr. Paisley. The man was set on ruining the lives of perfectly good people with all his psychological bullshit.

"What I don't get is why you're even listening to Paisley. He's a moron. Everyone to him lacks emotional skills. If I were you I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. You're not weird."

"Carlos the man is well respected at the Justice Department. Yes, he's a little clinical, but I can respect brilliance when I see it."

Ranger made a nondescript noise at the back of his throat.

"Promise you'll be nice to him when we go in." Marissa said.

Blank look.

"Carlos, I don't want to spend half the time in there trying to interpret your silence to him."

"No promises."

"Carlos!"

"What? Look you and I both agree that this psycho mumbo-jumbo is all part of the torture we have to go through in order to do our jobs."

"So?"

"So messing with Dr. Evil in there is how we endure the torture."

She sent him a chagrined look. "Be nice. He's my shrink too."

"Don't you find that a little strange that you and I are assigned the same psychiatrist?"

She thought about that for a few seconds. "Errr...no."

His brow furrowed. "Mari."

"Think about it. You and I are close friends. Our bosses know that. So don't you think they're a little concerned that your craziness might rub off on me? Oh wait. Too late."

"My orders were to see the shrink twice a week. I'm only here because of protocol. Nowhere in my directive did it say that I had to like him or even be nice to him."

"But you have too." Marissa argued. "Don't you get it? If we don't comply he's going to write you up as unfit for active duty."

A look of worry flashed over Ranger's face. "You think he would do that?"

She looked thoughtful. "I can't say for sure, but there's a high possibility. The military has enough crazy people to deal with within their ranks already. And most of them are not trained killers like you. No offense."

"None taken." he said with a nod of his head.

"All I'm saying Carlos is play their game to get what you want. Cause I know sitting behind a desk, entombed in paperwork and policy is not your idea of fun on the job. You like going out into the field...a little bit too much if you ask me, but that's neither here nor there."

"Are you implying that I like the rush of war and death?"

She nodded. "Pretty much. Nothing to be ashamed of mind you, as I believe everyone has a right to finding and enjoying _their thing_."

"_Their thing_?"

"Yeah. You know? That thing that you would do for free. Your passion as my mother would say."

"So you're saying that my passion is to kill people?"

"Sort of. You're an adrenaline addict."

"So on top of me being a killer, I'm also an addict."

"Yes, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. In ancient cultures those sort of traits were highly revered." she said emphatically.

Ranger shook his head as a soft laugh bubbled out of him. Leave it to Mari to assess him in the worse possible light, but yet make him seem like a hero in the process.

She was looking at him with a concerned look in her eyes. "What? Did I say something funny?"

He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "No, you said something enlightening."

"Really?" News to her.

The door to Dr. Paisley's office opened and the distinguished looking psychiatrist poked his head out. "Come on in you two."

Marissa and Ranger looked at each other and grimaced. They knew that the doctor had something planned up his sleeve to get them to open up about their _"psychological progress"._ A fact that Ranger and Marissa were hoping to avoid all together.

"Say nothing." Ranger muttered under his breath as they got up and made their way into the office.

"What?" Marissa whispered. "You know I can't do that. It's rude."

"You're rude."

"I am not." she argued.

He shot her a dubious look.

"Okay, so maybe I am a little. But I'm not going to be rude to Dr. P just because you don't want to do the exercise of the day. Why can't you be rude?'

"You don't want me being rude. It may not end well for him."

"Who will what not end well for?" Dr. Paisley chimed in as they took their seats in front of him.

"Errr...nobody." Marissa said quickly. Best not to rile him up before their session even began.

Dr. Paisley studied them for a minute. Something was going on with these two as usual. He'd never had two patients as close as they were, who were so vastly different in their psychological processes. He was even thinking about writing a paper on the two of them for a journal article. But before he got that far he still had a lot to learn about them; and so far that had been proving to be very difficult. "Agent Carter, the last time we spoke we addressed your protectiveness of Sergeant Mañoso."

"Can you just call us Carter and Mañoso, or Marissa and Carlos?" Marissa asked. "Titles make us uncomfortable."

"Why do they make you uncomfortable?" Dr. Paisley asked.

Marissa and Ranger exchanged a meaningful look but said nothing.

"I see." Dr. Paisley said knowingly. "Still protective of each other's privacy. Well this may prove to be helpful towards our exercise today. We're going to play a little game."

"I don't like games." Ranger said stoically.

"He really doesn't." Marissa chimed in.

"What about games don't you like Ser...Carlos?"

"It's a waste of time and the end result is mediocre in satisfaction."

"I like games." Marissa muttered.

Ranger glared at her and muttered from the side of his mouth. "Didn't we have a discussion about this before we came in here? Silence, remember?"

"But I think the game might be fun." she muttered back.

"You don't know what the game is."

"It doesn't matter. It's a game. By law all games are supposed to be fun."

"Who's law?"

"The Universe."

"Weak argument."

"Well I'm sure it's in the Bible." she said.

Ranger shot her an incredulous look. "You're using God now to justify your fondness for games? Shame on you Mari."

"All I'm saying is Jesus was a child once. He must have played games. All kids do. And since he was the son of God I'm sure God wanted him to have as much fun as possible, you know, because he was his son."

Ranger tilted his head to the side; a sign that he was contemplating that fact.

"It's very interesting how you two can have separate conversations within other conversations." Dr. Paisley interjected as he looked at them as if they were a new species of animal he had just discovered.

"Excuse me? Marissa asked. "What?"

"Just now. What you two did. Fascinating. It was like you didn't even know I was in the room."

"A fact which we both would have appreciated." Ranger deadpanned.

Marissa bit down on her lips to keep from laughing. Man, some days Carlos was extra funny.

Dr. Paisley however wasn't enjoying Ranger's humor. "I know you think these sessions are a waste of your time Carlos. But I can assure you that what we do in here is very vital and effective for you to perform to the best of your ability when you're out on operations."

"I always perform my best on my assignments doctor. My record speaks for itself." Ranger growled menacingly.

Dr. Paisley visibly swallowed hard.

Poor man, Marissa thought. Fearing for his life while trying to do his job. That couldn't have felt good.

"Your record does speak for itself Carlos." Dr. Paisley agreed. "But think about these sessions as maintenance for your psyche. Better to deal with the issues now before they spin out of control."

"I don't have any issues." Ranger said glaring at the doctor.

Marissa pressed her lips together and shot Ranger an uncomfortable look. The expression wasn't lost on Dr. Paisley.

"Agent...Marissa you seem to not be in agreement with Carlos."

"What? No, no, no. I'm in agreement. Sort of." Marissa explained hurriedly, obviously uncomfortable with the doctor calling her out.

"What do you mean by sort of?" Dr. Paisley asked with a great amount of interest.

Ranger looked very interested too, but in more of a _I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that _kind of way_. _"Yes Mari, what exactly did you mean by sort of?"

Uh oh.

Marissa clasped her hands nervously in front of her. "Nothing. I meant nothing."

Dr. Paisley sensed that there was something she wanted to get off her mind. "Marissa, you know that in here the rules are that there are no secrets. What is said in here, stays in here."

"I don't believe that. What if you were kidnapped and tortured? Carlos has a lot of enemies who would love to get their hands on information regarding him. Would you break Dr.P? Would you sell out Carlos in order to save your life?"

Dr. Paisley paled a little but he wasn't going to lose focus when it came to these two. They were his most challenging patients. Their mental block and emotional detachment made his job twice as hard. Even when he did one-on-one sessions with either one of them it seemed as though he had to ask more questions, give more scenarios, even use deceptive methods in order to get them to open up and express their emotions. Carlos was the scarier of the two, but Marissa was no shrinking violet either. Their bosses at the Department of Justice were concern about their mental stability due to occurrences while out on the field that had happened with them. Agent Carter had been getting injured frequently while out on routine assignments, while Sergeant Mañoso was instigating high-risk invasion maneuvers during extraction operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. To their superiors it seemed like they had a death wish. And having been sued by families in the past, the Department wasn't going to take chances on risking another civil suit regarding a wrongful death case because of mentally unstable operatives. Now here they were sitting close, but barely touching ; one glaring at him, the other looking a little too anxious. But he was good at his job, no scratch that. He was great at his job. He was one of the most sought after psychologists in the country and he was determined to break down the barriers and get them to accept their emotional sides. How he was going to achieve that, he wasn't quite sure yet. These two were a constant surprise. But he could also be surprising.

"We're not here to discuss me Marissa." he said pointedly. "As I was saying we're going to do an interactive session that is going to involve a public outing."

"Public outing?" Marissa asked, a heavy sense of doubt lacing her voice.

Ranger's blank mask was firmly in place.

"I want you two to go somewhere public and try to engage in some sort of social activity that the general public would deem as entertaining." Dr. Paisley continued.

Marissa was intrigued by this idea. "You want us to go together?"

The doctor nodded.

"Not going to happen." Ranger said vehemently.

"Haven't you ever wanted to be normal?" Marissa asked him.

Ranger swore it was a trick question, so he remained quiet.

She took his silence as consent to continue talking. "Okay, I realize that normal for you and me is a big stretch, but that doesn't mean that we can't do a variation of normal like the rest of society."

He frowned at her. "I don't like where this seems to be heading."

Marissa knew she was asking him to go out of his comfort zone, but she was determined to see this exercise through. "How about if we start off small? Like say going to a movie."

"A movie?"

"Yeah, at one of those multiplex things." she said excitedly.

"You're kidding right?" Ranger growled.

"Why?"

"Mari, do you know the logistics of securing a perimeter as dark and as wide as a movie theater?"

"No. But I presume I don't have to since I'll be going there to watch a movie not take down a group of terrorists."

"Not a good idea." Ranger said vehemently.

"Why not?"

"Look, I know a guy that can send a copy of any movie you want to see to Rangeman. We can watch it in the Visual Conference Room and..."

"No!"

Her outburst was unexpected.

"Have you been listening to anything I just said? Fun. Like normal people. Normal being the operative word here. I want to eat popcorn from a huge paper bucket, and drink a belly-busting plastic cup of soda, and...and I want to sit amongst the general public and look up at the big screen and laugh, or cry, or cringe along with everyone else. And if you're not going to come along then fine. FINE! I can go by myself."

Ranger stared at her as though she'd grown two heads. What the hell had gotten into her? Since when did she want to do things in public, or even with the public? Unbeknownst to most people Mari was a homebody. When she wasn't working she liked to lock herself in her house and cook, or do laundry, watch tv and catch up on her reading. She said it made her feel human rather than a public servant waddling through the sewage of life filled with murder, drugs, dirty money and grimy assholes. Why the change all of a sudden?

Dr. Paisley watched on in fascination. He couldn't have planned this better himself. He knew that Carlos had a soft spot when it came to Agent Carter. His body language was a bit more relaxed when he was around her, and his attributes as a protector were fiercely focused on the special agent even though he knew she could take care of herself in most situations. He stayed silent, letting the couple work through the obvious bump in their friendship. He was anxious to see what resolution they would come up with. Their personalities were complex, with levels he was only just beginning to understand.

Marissa's face had taken on a stony appearance, and she stared straight ahead while holding her body stiffly. She couldn't believe Carlos was being so obstinate about this. It was just a stupid movie. Why was he making such a big deal out of it? But whether or not he would go with her was beside the point now, because she was determined to see this through. She wanted to do something that was fun. She needed to have fun. She didn't know when her life had taken on such a mundane and grim aura, but she was beginning to get tired of it.

Now that she was here in Trenton she had more free time on her hands. Things were much slower here. At first she had been uncomfortable with having so much time with herself and had spent many weekends in the Newark's field office Evidence Room just going through random case files to pass the time. It took her mind of the disastrous state of her social life, and her uncomfortable and thought-provoking feelings regarding Joe Morelli. For the past couple of months since she relocated to Trenton she had seen him approximately five times. Thank God it was all in public places like the supermarket, the gas station, the police station, at the mall and once at the gun range. Three out of those five times she had managed to leave without him noticing her, but the other two times had been nerve-wracking and awkward. Their conversations had been brief, and the strained politeness between them had her wondering if the intimate time they'd spent together had been a result of her imagination. More times than she would admit to she had lain in bed running the memory vividly in her mind of the feel of his hands and mouth on her body those many months ago. And when the memories became too frustrating her Stud 300 vibrator usually ended up taking the edge off. But lately she had been feeling unsatisfied, and she knew that in order to squelch that feeling a social orgasm was in order.

Marissa knew that Carlos would've volunteered his sexual services if she had asked him because all she needed was a release and then sleep. Carlos was good at that. No talking, cuddling or intimate morning-after gestures. Simple and uncomplicated, right?

But if it was, then why was she feeling so depressed and anxious? It was as if there was a huge imaginary hole within her that couldn't be filled by anything. Not by drinking, not by work and certainly not by sex. She knew something was missing, but she didn't know what it was. Maybe she was just homesick for New York. She loved the city. That was home for her. But she wasn't going home for another four months and sixteen days so she would just have to pull up her big girl panties and stick it out.

"Mari?" Ranger's voice broke through her thoughts.

She turned and leveled a cool stare at him. "What?"

"We'll go to the movies."

Really?

"You're not just saying that because Dr. P is here?" Hope flared within her but she kept her emotions off her face.

He shook his head. "No. We'll go."

That had been too easy. "But?" This was Carlos. There was always a but.

"I have to put some things in place first?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Things?"

He nodded. "For this to happen we have to compromise."

"We're going to a movie. Not Iran." she pointed out curtly. Marissa turned towards Dr. Paisley. "Can you explain to him the irrationality of his proposal?"

Dr. Paisley shrugged. " Marissa it's very clear that in order for Carlos to engage in the proposed activity he has to have some level of comfort in order for him to fully commit himself."

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Okay, you do know that it's just a movie we're going to, right?"

"It's a fun social event to you, but to Carlos it's an environment that's out of his control."

"Can't you give him some drugs to paralyze him until the movie's over?" Marissa asked.

"Agent Carter that's not a very rational solution and would totally defeat the purpose of the exercise."

"And just what exactly is the purpose of the exercise?" Ranger asked clearly not receptive to the idea of him going any place he hasn't staked out before hand.

"To prove that you're paranoid." Marissa quipped. "Not to mention a control freak. Oh, Dr. P tell him he has to eat popcorn and drink soda too. Let's corrupt the temple while we're at it."

Marissa was clearly enjoying this.

"Agent Carter..."

"Marissa." she corrected.

"Marissa, the goal here is to get Carlos to immerse himself into an environment where his focus is going to be on being entertained and hopefully not on being the protector."

"That's a lot of hope there." Marissa muttered. Ranger shot her a sharp look.

"Why do you say that?" Dr. Paisley asked.

She spared a glance at Carlos before answering. "Because we all know how paranoid Carlos is. Putting him in such an environment would only serve to alienate and terrify the people around him. Well not me. But you know, the general public."

"And this is why we're doing this exercise. Carlos has to train himself to not react and be suspicious of everyone he's around when thrust into social situations."

They shot him identical dubious stares. God, he had his work cut out for him. "Okay, let me put it like this way, until I see some sort of emotional growth happening for both of you I'm reluctant to approve any field duty for either of you."

"You can't do that!" Marissa exploded.

Dr. Paisley was determined. "I can and I will if I have to. My approval is needed on your reinstatement forms."

"We can forge your signature. That squiggly_ P_ thing you write can easily be duplicated." Marissa said with a bravado.

"Yes it can, which is why your approval forms have to be signed with a special code."

A look of disbelief settled on their faces.

_Not so tough now are you guys?_ Dr. Paisley thought gleefully to himself. "Look guys, it won't be so bad. It's a night of fun and relaxation."

"I don't know Dr. P. It's Carlos you're talking about here. I don't think he's used those words since he was like five."

"I know how to have fun and relax." Ranger argued.

Laughter bubbled out of Marissa and she rolled her eyes. "Yes, but we're going to the movies not the gun range."

"Speaking of which," Dr. Paisley interjected. "You're not allowed to carry any weapons on this assignment."

Silence filled the room and two pairs of eyes went wide in confusion. Marissa was the first to recover. "I'm sorry Dr. P, but did you just say that we can't take our guns with us?"

He nodded as a smug look masked itself on his face. "Yes I did. No weapons of any kind."

Before she could respond Ranger flew off the couch and lunged towards the doctor. "Okay asshole, who are you working for!" Ranger shouted as he yanked Dr. Paisley out of his chair and threw him up against a wall.

Oh shit! Marissa thought as her anxiety propelled her off the couch and she moved quickly to place herself between Ranger and the now panicked doctor.

Dr. Paisley was red in the face, and was having trouble breathing as Ranger's elbow pressed heavily into his windpipe. "Answer the question!"

"No one." Paisley managed in a strangled voice. "I swear no one."

"Carlos you're going to kill him!" Marissa yelled as she tried to pry his forearm away; which was like trying to uproot a redwood tree. "CARLOS! GET OFF OF HIM!"

This time Ranger released the pressure on his forearm and stepped away from the panting, red-faced man.

"Are you alright?" Marissa asked as she guided the doctor to a nearby chair.

"I'll live." he gasped as he rubbed his throat and fell heavily into the chair.

"Carlos just got a little bit carried away with the whole no weapons business. That's like asking him to walk around naked in public."

"I realize." Paisley gasped as he watched Ranger pace the room like a caged animal.

"You shouldn't have told him that." Marissa chastised. "Is this incident going to show up in a report of some kind?"

"No. This was as much my fault. I should've explained the situation better."

"You know what? Screw you and the Defense Department!" Ranger snarled from across the room. "I'm not going to do it!"

"Look, I'll be with you. We can do this." Marissa tried to reason as she hurried over to him. Deep down however she wasn't so sure. And from the look on Ranger's face neither was he.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Two days later at the Trenton Multiplex Cinemas ...**_

"Wow. Is this place always so busy?" Marissa asked as her head swiveled around taking in the leisurely moving crowd consisting of teenagers, children and adults.

"Now you see why I didn't want to come here." Ranger said as he did a slow scan of the interior of the lobby.

Marissa knew he was memorizing all the exits and mentally cataloging _"trouble spots"_ just in case all hell broke loose. This was highly unlikely, given that the movie theater never had any incidents of riots or mass destruction in all its years of operation.

"Come on Rambo." she said grabbing onto his arm and pulling him towards the ticket usher. "Let's go get our seats. I'll come back out for some snacks." Marissa had planned ahead and bought the tickets online anticipating that Ranger would be in no mood to stand on the long, slow moving ticket line.

"You can get the snacks now if you want. Our seating has already been taken care of." he said casually.

Heh. "What do you mean by _already been taken care of_?"

An uneasy feeling was beginning to bubble up inside of her.

But Ranger just ignored her question and proceeded to stand on the entrance line.

"Carlos?" Marissa pressed.

Silence.

"Oh God, please tell me you didn't buy every seat in the theater. That's not what Dr. Paisley wanted. You're supposed to be working on your social skills, remember? How are you going to do that if there aren't any people there?"

Ranger turned and stared at her. "Will you relax? I promise there will be people there."

She made a face at him, but said nothing. She would give him the benefit of the doubt. Ranger was a man of his word. He did what he said.

She watched as he handed the usher their tickets, who then told them the number of the theater their movie was going to be shown in. Picking a mutual agreeable movie to see was a whole other process in itself. They had argued about the type of movie. Marissa wanted to see something light and funny, while Ranger was adamant about seeing a horror movie. After calling in Tank to referee their disagreement, Marissa won the argument when Tank reminded Ranger that it didn't matter what movie they saw as the purpose of the outing was to get Dr. Paisley off his ass and to approve his active duty status. After that helpful insight Ranger had let Marissa plan out the entire outing. But her smug feeling only lasted a day. She had walked into Ranger's office only to find him, Cal, Tank and Lester going over the blueprints for the multiplex.

"What the hell are you doing?" she shrieked indignantly as the men tried to mask their guilty expressions.

"Carlos, have you lost your damn mind?" she asked as she snatched the blueprints from the table and furiously rolled them up. "This is not what Dr. Paisley had in mind for us. Why is this so hard for you to do? You have some serious control issues, you know that?"

All four men stayed quiet. When Marissa was on a roll like this it was best to be silent and not provoke her into doing any acts of violence. Bloodshed between friends was only acceptable when out in the field or deep undercover.

Ranger was the first one to speak. "Mari, I just wanted to be prepared."

Her eyes went wide in disbelief. "Prepared? For what? I swear, if I wasn't your friend I would whack you over the head with these blueprints." she stated angrily waving the rolled up papers in front of him.

"And you!" she whirled around and faced Tank. "Why are you even indulging him in this ridiculousness?"

"He's the boss." Tank muttered as he gave her a sheepish look.

"Stop enabling him!"

"Mari..."

"Carlos I swear...I swear if you say one word to justify your inane actions about this whole thing I'm going to call Dr. Paisley." she threatened through clenched teeth.

"I think you're overreacting." he said as he stared at her with his arms folded across his chest.

Her response to that was the act of pulling her Blackberry out her pocket and dialing.

"Yes, may I speak with Dr. Paisley please? Tell him it's Special Agent Carter. I have some important new developments he would find very interesting. Yes, I'll hold."

Ranger yanked the phone away from her and ended the call.

Marissa made an indignant sound as she glared at him; challenging him to explain himself.

But he just glared right back at her. For most people when Ranger looked at them the way he was looking at her two reactions usually occurred. One, they peed in their pants, and two, they got the hell out of his way. Marissa did neither and that just irked Ranger even more. The air around them crackled with tension, and Tank, Cal and Lester quickly left the room. From experience when Marissa and Ranger knocked heads on an issue it was much safer for there not to be an audience around. Ranger waited until the door clicked closed before he spoke in a low, clipped tone. "I'm not going to do this if I feel uncomfortable, and right about now I'm feeling very uncomfortable."

"Then you're wasting a good emotion on nothing. I'm going to be with you. We already discussed this." Marissa shot back as she stepped closer to him until they were toe to toe.

Brown eyes clashed with brown eyes; unblinking and defiant.

"We won't be armed. I haven't been anywhere public without a gun in over ten years. The thought of that makes me highly agitated."

"And you need a gun to watch a movie?" her eyes narrowed as she tried to gauge what was going on in his head at the moment.

"I need some sort of a personal weapon. I have enemies Mari. In my line of work the bad guys don't take vacations when they have vendettas. But then again you won't understand that being as you're so naïve about the dark side of life."

"I'm sorry, I missed the last part. Something moronic followed by something ridiculous." she shot back.

Ranger's eyes narrowed as a muscle in his jaw flexed uncontrollably but he stayed silent.

Marissa narrowed her eyes at him as she stared at him knowingly. "I see what's going on here. Technically we'll be going on a date. Technically there are protocols that go hand in hand with such an outing, and quite possibly you're feeling a little stressed about the whole situation as you're not exactly sure where we stand in regards to an intimate relationship between us."

Ranger stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you're not sure what sort of behavior to display when we're sitting in the dark movie theater, surrounded by hormonally charged individuals who may or may not be kissing and or fondling each other in front of us. What are you going to do with your hands? What am I going to do with my hands? Do I want you to do anything with your hands? Do you want me touching you? All these pertinent questions flying around, yet no real solution."

"Don't play with fire Mari." His voice held a warning. "Not only will you get burned, but there will be no identifiable parts left when I get through with you."

"Sounds like fun." she said with bravado she didn't feel. "Too bad I've taken up celibacy while I'm staying in Trenton."

His eyes narrowed a fraction. "Why?"

"For...personal reasons."

"Are any one of those reasons named Joe Morelli?" he asked with a smirk.

"Don't try to distract me here Carlos. It's not gonna work. We're going to the movies without weapons so suck it up."

"I'd rather suck on you." he said suggestively as he bent his head moving in to kiss her neck.

"Flirting will get you nowhere but in the hospital." she said as she stepped back and expertly avoided his lips. "I'll pick you up at seven on Friday."

With that she flounced out his office; blueprints in hand.

Now here they were, strolling through the movie theater looking like a regular couple in Anytown USA on a Friday night. Marissa was excited. She'd never gone out socially with Carlos before. Usually they would be strapped in Kevlar with assault rifles and hand guns if they were to do anything with the public. But now here they were; she dressed in jeans, a comfortable cotton shirt and strappy sandals, while he wore a grey shirt opened at the neck, with black jeans and black loafers. He looked preppy, but dangerously so, and Marissa had noticed a few women craning their necks to size him up as they walked past the crowds. He held the door opened for her and she smiled at him. The smile soon turned into a grimace when she walked in and spotted Cal and Zero standing guard at the back row like two terminators.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me?" Marissa muttered as she turned and glared at Ranger.

"They're just holding our seats." Ranger explained as he brushed past her and walked towards his employees.

Marissa didn't know what to make of that statement so she just followed him. Zero and Cal stepped back to let Ranger and Marissa in, then proceeded to sit a few chairs away along the same row.

Marissa slapped Ranger on his arm hard. "What the fuck are they doing here?"

Ranger was unphased. "The same thing we are. Watching the movie."

She screwed her face up at him. "Spill it big man. What the hell is going on?"

Ranger stared ahead for a few seconds before speaking; almost as if he was gathering up his thoughts...or lies. "Paisley said we couldn't bring any weapons, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So he never said anything about other people bringing weapons."

Marissa's mouth fell open. "You mean to tell me Cal and Zero are...dressed?" she whispered fiercely. "Carlos, of all the..."

"There's more." he interjected.

Marissa's eyes got wide. More? Unfuckingbelievable.

"Woody and Vince are in the Projector Room."

Marissa took a few seconds to compose her rising ire before asking her next question. "Exactly what are they doing up there?"

"A little surveillance."

"Oh. Hell. No."

"Mari, what's the problem? Look...see how calm I am?" He made a show of leaning back against his seat and slouching down until his head rested against the seat back.

Marissa couldn't believe this. "You know, just when I figure I've seen all your crazy antics you go and do something like this that just justifies the fact that you should be studied for scientific purposes in the hopes of curing mental illnesses."

He shot her an innocent look. "What? Why don't you go get your popcorn and a drink? You still have five minutes before the movie starts."

Great idea, Marissa thought. She really did need a moment to settle her mind on what was transpiring before her eyes. With a loud sigh she got up and maneuvered past him towards the end of the row. Cal and Zero stood up.

"Sit!" she hissed angrily then turned and pointed a finger at Ranger. "If I see one Rangeman following me you better believe I will take him down."

Ranger stared at her. The stony expression told him that she was very serious about her threat. He decided that it was best not to push her completely over the edge. He nodded his head at Cal and Zero and they sat back down.

With a roll of her eyes and a low growl Marissa stalked off towards the lobby. God, she needed new friends, because the ones she had were certifiable crazy. Okay, so maybe she could understand his need for safety. Hell, she had walked with a travel-sized can of hairspray and a lighter because hey, you never knew when a mini blow torch may come in handy. But to actually position armed bodyguards and a surveillance crew in the theater was just going a little beyond paranoid in her opinion. She side-stepped a pair of playing toddlers and loud talking teenagers only to come to an abrupt stop by the sight of Joe Morelli and a familiar looking woman standing in the concession stand line.

_Holy shit!_ Marissa thought in a panic. _What is he doing here?_

Turning quickly on her heels, with her heart beating in her throat, she made her way back to Ranger, all the while praying that Joe didn't see her hasty retreat. Ranger looked at her quizzically when she threw herself dejectedly next to him.

"What happened to the snacks?" he asked.

"Uhm…I decided it wouldn't be fair for me to be eating while you're not. This is supposed to be a partnership thing, so I'm gonna be nice and sit here with you and give you all the moral support you need." she huffed out on a sigh.

Ranger's brow furrowed. Mari not eating junk food? Was she sick? "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling fine." Well apart from the nausea and heavy feeling in her chest. This night was turning out to be hell.

"Are you sure?" His sharp eyes scanned her face.

She was saved from answering when the audio for a soft drink commercial filled the space and the huge movie screen bubbled to life. She sat feeling a little envious as she watched the actor on the screen guzzle enthusiastically from a tempting bottle of Pepsi. She could so be drinking a Pepsi now too if it wasn't for Joe Morelli. What the hell as he doing here anyway? In fact why was he here the same night she was here? Okay, so maybe she was blowing things out of proportion. This was a public place after all. Plus this wasn't about her. This was about supporting Ranger in order for him to accomplish his goal. She was not going to be selfish. A couple of teenage boys approached the end of the row and gestured to Cal and Zero, indicating that they wanted to sit in the vacant seats.

Marissa watched as Zero got up, towering over the teenagers, and said something to them. The two teens proceeded to glare at Zero, and then the stupider one of the two punched Zero ineffectually on his chest. Looking like he was being bothered by a fly, Zero along with Cal, proceeded to grab onto the shirt collars of the teens and dragged them effortlessly out the movie theater.

"Oh my God! Carlos do something." Marissa said in a panic as she watched the boys struggled uselessly.

Ranger just shrugged and turned back to watching another commercial on the screen. Marissa stared at him with wide eyes.

"Carlos!"

Ranger's eyes never left the movie screen.

"Ugh! Fine. I'll handle this myself."

She stood up only to be yanked back down forcefully back down in her seat.

"Sit. I'm sure Cal and Zero have everything under control. We're here to watch a movie so that's what we're going to do. What's the name of the movie again?"

Marissa counted to five before she answered him. The nerve of him and his smug-bastard attitude. How could he just sit there looking all calm when his employees were possibly scaring the poor boys for life? This was not what Dr. Paisley had in mind at all.

"The movie's called No Strings Attached." she replied grumpily.

Ranger shook his head and smiled. "Only in the movies."

Marissa frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Because you and I both know that such a thing doesn't exist."

"Of course it does." she said. "You and I did it."

Ranger raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, so maybe there were a few strings."

"A few?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. Movement to her left caught her attention just as the lights began to dim and the familiar frame of Joe Morelli walked into the theater.

"Shit!" Marissa hissed and immediately slid down in her seat.

Ranger stared at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." she whispered as she slid even lower in the seat. Her head was now at Ranger's waist level and her knees touched the back of the seat in front of her.

Ranger's eyes narrowed as he looked around the theater. "Why are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding." she shot back defensively. "I'm just...getting comfortable."

She chanced a glance back to where Joe and Stephanie stood and breathed a sigh of relief when they began walking towards the front.

Ranger leaned down to Marissa's level. "Should I ask Joe and Steph to join us?"

She glared at him. "Do you want to die?"

Ranger grinned at her. "You can come up now. They found seats towards the middle on the right, six rows up."

Marissa sat up slowly and looked to where Ranger indicated. She watched as the couple whispered in each other's ear and then simultaneously broke out in laughter.

Definitely couple actions, Marissa thought as a heavy feeling settled in her chest.

So that was that. Joe was off the market. She might as well stop deluding herself that anything was going to happen between them. But then again she was as much to blame for that. He had clearly stated his intent when he'd kissed her in the Tasty Pastry parking lot a few weeks ago. But she had been terrified of the emotional reaction she'd had after, and had gone out of her way to avoid him. She didn't want to pit herself in the same position she had been in with her ex Michael Gray. She had fallen fast and hard for the SWAT team leader, only to have him stomp all over her emotions and pride when he announced that he was getting married to someone else. She had been blindsided. For weeks she analyzed everything she'd done, not done and said with him before realizing that he really wasn't that into her in the first place. She had been "entertainment" to him while he'd been looking for Miss Right. The reality of the situation had knocked her on her ass, and it had taken her months to get back to the land of the living. After that rude awakening she'd promised herself that she was over looking for being in, or cultivating any kind of a committed relationship with a man. She had told Ranger as much when they'd gotten together, and he had respected her decision. It wasn't that hard with Ranger anyway, as he too wasn't looking for any kind of a commitment either. It had been easy, satisfying and pressure-free. Then Stephanie had broken up with Joe, and Ranger began spending more and more time in Trenton. A little while after Marissa had gotten sent to Trenton on a Joint Task Force team operation and BAM! Joe Morelli showed up. In rapid succession her feelings towards him blossomed from friendly and professional to an emotionally charged reaction every time he was around her. She'd fought it though. And it helped that her wounds from her past betrayal hadn't fully healed, otherwise it would've taken one fiery kiss from Joe for her to fall completely for him. When she had gone back to New York after her assignment was over she felt confident that all she needed was a week or two of getting back into her daily routine before all emotion and wistful thoughts of Joe dissipated. But the Gods of Emotional Turmoil had it in for her. Two months later she found herself temporarily assigned back to the Newark Field office…and Joe Morelli a highway away. She had bumped into him a few times at the supermarket and the precinct, and each time she'd made sure they exchanged no m ore that professional pleasantries before she practically ran from the building.

But as the saying goes "_Be careful what you wish for_", because here he was now with his girlfriend looking like a freaking Hallmark commercial promoting Valentine's Day. Ugh!

Okay, so maybe this was all her fault because of her emotional constraints. And yes, Joe was a very sexually appealing man who could without a doubt get any woman he wanted with just a smile and the sound of his voice. So when it all came down to the nitty-gritty truth Marissa knew she was the one responsible for sabotaging any chance of being with him. But on the other hand maybe it was for the best as she knew fully committing to a man was a lot more work than romance novels made it out to be.

Ranger nudged her arm." You alright?"

She offered him a tight smile. "Just hoping the movie doesn't suck."

"Well given that scowl on your face I'd say it already has." he said as his gazed flicked to Joe and Stephanie.

Marissa could only grimace at his intuition.


	3. Chapter 3

Ranger wasn't a fan of crowds. They disrupted the natural flow of things, and he was a big fan of flow. Thankfully the movie theater they were in was not filled to capacity. He figured it was probably because the movie had been out for a while, and the public had moved onto the next "blockbuster hit". He was ready to move on too- to his apartment at were any number of more important things he could've been doing rather than wasting two hours sitting in a too dark room with minimal exit points. What had he been thinking when he agreed to this crazy outing? Oh, that's right, he wasn't at the time. Marissa had looked so dejected when he'd balked at Dr. Paisley's asinine assignment that he'd given in just to appease her. As much as he was a badass, he had a soft spot for the people in his life that he regarded as friends; and Marissa was one of his best.

He'd had some shitty assignments before, but this one took the cake. His elbow brushed against his side, and he was acutely aware of the void that was left by his nonexistent gun. Said gun was locked in a safe back at RangeMan. His backup gun which was usually strapped to his ankle was also in the safe. He felt as though he'd lost two of his closest friends and he squelched down the restless feeling that had been prodding him all day. He looked at his watch. An hour and fifty minutes to go. Damn.

Marissa fidgeted at his side. She was staring intently at the screen, but Ranger knew that her mind was a few rows over to where Joe and Stephanie were sitting. He could feel the tension rolling off of her in waves. Little did she know that Stephanie was with Joe all because of him. Two weeks ago he'd stayed late to finish up some paperwork, but his mind had not been on the contracts and payroll reports in front of him. Instead, they were with a certain curly-haired brunette down the hall. Then as if she'd read his mind she had knocked on his door and asked him a question that even now he still didn't know how to answer.

"_Do you want me?"_

One question. Four words. No real answer. Well, no answer that would've made any sense to Stephanie. His feelings for her were beyond wanting. No, what he felt for her was an overwhelming feeling of consummation. He wanted to inhale her until every cell of his body was infused with her essence. The potency of the thought scared him to his core. He'd promise himself a long time ago that no woman was ever going to have control over him like that again. That kind of control was manipulative and destructive. And true to his word no woman, since Rachel, had ever gotten that close to him again –except Stephanie.

Ranger stared at the woman before him who was nervously wringing her hands unsure as to how to answer her question.

"Where is this coming from?" he asked cautiously.

She huffed out a sigh. "It's coming from the fact that I've been practically throwing myself at you all week and you've barely even acknowledged my actions."

He continued to stare at her. God, she could be confusing at times.

"Babe, I have been responding. But every time I go to take it further you run away."

"I do not!" she responded hotly.

He quirked an eyebrow at her indicating his skepticism.

"I…it's just…it's just that you can be kinda intense sometimes."

"Intense?"

"Yeah. You know? You go into Batman Mode."

"Batman mode?"

"Mysterious, dangerous, scary." She checked each characteristic off on her fingers.

"I scare you Babe?"

Stephanie chewed on her lower lip. Oh boy.

"I think…well it's not like you're super scary. What…what I mean is, I like your kind of scary. A lot."

Ranger's lips twitched. "Anything else you like about me?"

He watched as she swallowed heavily and cleared her throat nervously.

"I err… I like that you seem to like me a little." she replied softly.

"Just a little?"

Her eyes held his. "Well you never gave any indication of more than that."

"Maybe I like you too much." he admitted.

Her eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Don't play with me Ranger."

Oh how he wish he was.

"I'm not." he rasped out.

"Then why won't you let me in?"

"Because that would be dangerous and foolish, not to mention selfish as other lives would be at stake."

She cocked her head to the side trying to understand his logic. "That explains nothing."

"It's all I can say."

Stephanie threw her hands up in frustration. "Why do you always have to keep me in the dark all the damn time? I can handle the truth you know."

"It's the way it has to be." he replied solemnly, hating the fact that he was treating her in this manner.

She deserved the truth. But what she didn't deserve was the consequences of her knowing it. It would've been freeing to tell her about his black op missions, and what he does when he "in the wind", but if his superiors found out about his loose lips Stephanie would be the one to bear the deadly consequences, while he would just get a disciplinary letter in his file. The wheels of fair justice did not spin at high government levels that's for sure.

"So you never answered my question." Stephanie said breaking into his thoughts. "Do you want me?"

Like water to a man in the desert. But he didn't tell her that. Couldn't tell her that. At least not until he got rid of some of the behaviors and people in his life.

"In my own way." he answered softly, knowing it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"I need more than that." she said as she rounded the desk to stand in front of him. Her scent enveloped him, and he could feel the heat of her body tugging on his, and the primal urge he'd kept suppressed when she walked into his office was now fighting to be unleashed.

"More than what?" he managed to ask from his now restricted throat.

"That lame ass answer. What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you get what I'm asking you here?"

He looked up at her and his heart slammed into his chest when he encountered her pained blue eyes. "I get it, but I can't give you the answer you want. At least not right now."

"When?"

"That's not up to me Babe." He tried to make his voice as soothing as possible, hoping that she would understand that this wasn't easy for him to say to her.

Her head fell forward and a tear slid off the tip of her nose. Fuck! This was not how he wanted to make her feel. He wanted her to be angry. Anger was so much easier to deal with than pain; especially emotional pain that he was the cause of.

Please be mad at me Babe, he pleaded silently.

Her head rose and she looked at him through a watery gaze. "Is it because of Agent Carter?"

"What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Stephanie sniffled. "Is it because you're seeing her."

What? "I'm not seeing her. We're just friends."

"Friends with benefits?"

Whoa.

"This has nothing to do with Mari." he answered as he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. To his relief she curled herself into him and buried her face in his neck. They stayed like that for long minutes, just holding on to one another; words no longer a necessary part of their communication.

A week later word got back to him that she and Morelli were seeing each other again. The old emotions of jealousy and regret burned a hole in his stomach the night he found out, but he knew it was the way it had to be. Stephanie and the cop had a cycle to their emotional entanglement. Fight, break-up, fight some more, get back together. That was the nature of their relationship. He loved Stephanie; always would. But the reality was that she needed someone that was compatible with her. Ranger knew he wasn't. His life was too dark for her. He was a warrior. Where Stephanie's life was filled up with family dinners, food, friends and shopping, his was filled with black ops, assault weapons, government agencies, death and a sense of his days being numbered. It wasn't the best life, but it was the life he had chosen. And with it he'd had to make great sacrifices, including not being in his daughter's life as much as he wanted.

After the Scrog incident Rachel and Ron had met with him to "discuss" his presence in Julie's life. The end result was him regrettably agreeing to cutting off all physical contact with Julie until his life got more normal. That in itself was a joke because they all knew that that day would never come. Julie surprised him though by telling him that no matter what he would always be her dad, and that she hoped one day to "kick some butt" with him. Even now her comment brought a smile to his face when he thought back on it. Yeah, Julie really was his daughter.

So for now Ranger surrounded himself with people who were on his threat-assessment level. His men and Marissa. It made his life easier to manage knowing that his friends knew their way around a variety of weapons and the seedy side of life. Plus, it came in handy when he needed back-up in less than savory conditions and the occasional "grey areas" he always seemed to find himself involved in. That's what friends were for, right?

He reached over and laced his fingers with Marissa's cold ones offering his silent support. He smiled when she squeezed his hand and leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. God, how many years had passed since he'd done this with a woman? It felt oddly familiar to him, yet the act was throwing him for a loop. The lights in the theater dimmed some more and the opening credits of the movie rolled up on the screen. In his peripheral he saw Zero get up and move to stand at the entrance of the theater. This was a maneuver they had planned back at the office as it gave Zero a sweeping view of the room. Unbeknownst to Marissa and the rest of the patrons, Zero had a pair of night vision goggles tucked into one of the cargo pockets of his pants, along with a Sig Sauer holstered at his side. A Seal's knife was also strapped to his ankle, and military grade pepper spray hung from his belt. Standard equipment when out in the field.

A giggling couple stumbled their way into the row in front of where he sat, and Ranger wondered just what it would feel like to be that carefree again. He used to be like that in what felt like a past lifetime; before experiences both horrific and soul-changing shaped him into the man he was now. But someday…someday he was going to be normal again.

_Yeah, someday when you're dead_, a voice said in his head.

Wasn't that the damn truth?

Marissa's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I'm hungry." she whispered. This was validated by her stomach emitting a loud growl.

Ranger let go of her hand and dug into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a granola bar. "Ta-da. Snacks."

He tossed the bar into her lap. Marissa let it fall onto the floor.

"We're at a movie theater and you want me to eat a granola bar?" she asked incredulously. "What are you? A prison guard?"

"You said you were hungry."

"Yes, but not desperate. I think I'll hold out until the movie's over. I don't want to miss anything."

Her attention shifted back to the screen, and in that moment Ranger realized that no matter how long he lived he would never figure out how the mind of a woman worked. His eyes scanned the interior of the room committing to memory how many people were in the space. Force of habit. In his line of work paying attention to the details was valuable in case the shit hit the fan and you needed a head count later on. Some might call that paranoia; he called it covering his ass.

After he was satisfied with his head count he leaned back and tried to concentrate on the movie. Natalie Portman was a good actress, and very easy on the eyes. She was a little thin for Ranger's liking though. He liked his women with fully-rounded hips and thighs. And he had a weakness for a firm, round J-Loesque butt. He blamed his Latin genes for that.

Twenty minutes into the movie and Ranger found himself at odds with the Ashton Kutcher character. Who the hell calls every woman listed in their cell phone? Not him that's for sure. So Ashton was upset because of what his father did. Understandable. But losing control of one's dignity was not acceptable. If it were him he would've gone and worked out for a few hours, downed a couple of glasses of scotch, and then visited a high class madam he knew and released some of his pent up frustrations and hard earned money. Then he would've gotten on with his life. Simple, effective, and no one got hurt in the process. But Ranger figured for the sake of artistic expression the writers wrote the script like they did. Society did love a hard-earned love story.

Marissa was beginning to wonder just what she was thinking when she coerced Ranger into going along with her on this assignment. She liked Natalie Portman just fine. Also, Ashton Kutcher was great eye candy, and the storyline was sucking her in with its witty banter and believability. But the real show was the couple sitting in front of Ranger who were in the midst of playing Touch My Tonsils with their tongues. Marissa had forgotten the heightened lure to be licentious in a dark movie theater. You would think that after paying such a hefty price for a movie ticket one would want to get their money's worth by viewing every scene – even the credits. Marissa cut her eyes to Ranger. His head was lying against the headrest; his features were completely relaxed while his eyes were glued to the screen. How could he sit there so still and calm-looking while a semi porn-fest was happening right before him? Unbelievable.

She nudged his arm and he looked at her. She inclined her head in the direction of the couple and scrunched up her face. Ranger shrugged and went back to looking at the screen. What the hell?

Marissa nudged him again.

"What?" he whispered as he leaned in close to her.

"I can't concentrate on the movie while those two are slobbering over each other. Do something."

Ranger signaled to Cal. When he got his attention he discreetly pointed in front of him and made a slicing motion in front of his throat.

Marissa eyes went wide. "Did you just tell Cal to kill these people?" she whispered.

Ranger stared at her. "I told him to take care of the problem." he whispered back.

Marissa held her breath and watched as Cal walked into the next row and pulled the couple apart by their hair. Yikes!

"Hey!" the guy exclaimed. "What the fuck are you doing?"

A few people turned around to see what the commotion was all about. Thankfully none of them were Joe or Stephanie, Marissa observed with great relief. Hopefully he would never know she was even here as she planned to leave as soon as the first letter of the credits began rolling.

She watched as Cal leaned down close to the guy's face and whispered something. Even in the dim light Marissa knew fear when she saw it, and whatever Cal had told Mr. Loverboy was enough for him to grab the girl and scamper from his seat and out the theater.

Ranger turned to Marissa and smiled. "Happy?"

She frowned at him. "No, I am not happy. What the hell did Cal say to them?"

Ranger shrugged. "Does it matter? You wanted them to stop what they were doing and they did."

"Yeah. Stop playing tonsil hockey, not go running for their lives. Why do you always have to take things to the extreme?"

Ranger shrugged. "Where I come from if you want a problem solved you make sure there's no blowback."

"Has it ever occurred to you that those tactics should only be applied in war-torn countries?"

"No."

"Christ."

Ranger stared at her. "Would you like to leave now?"

She shook her head. "We can't leave. Dr. Paisley's instructions were to stay for the entire movie."

"And how would he know if we stayed or not?"

"Carlos, you and I both know that somewhere in this theater we're being watched, be it remotely or physically."

She did have a point there, Ranger thought.

"Be that as it may," he said, "The moment you're ready to roll I'm on your six."

Ranger knew Paisley was no fool. But then again neither was he. The day before he'd had Tank and Lester hack into the multiplex's surveillance camera server, which had then resulted in a live feed being run back at RangeMan. All Ranger had to do was give the word and Tank would run interference on the line, looping the previously recorded video. Getting out the building would prove to be trickier, but since the manager of the multiplex was a friend of Ranger's he'd all ready arranged for them to use the service entrance. And right outside the door was a beat up old white delivery van that Ranger used for surveillance. By the time anyone realized what was going on he and Marissa would be back at RangeMan safe and secure.

Marissa narrowed her eyes at him. "You did something didn't you?"

"Like what?" he asked innocently.

"I don't know yet, but I know you did something." Her eyes roamed around the dark interior, then up at the ceiling before moving along their row. Cal sat by himself.

"Where's Zero?" she asked.

"Entrance way." Ranger murmured.

Marissa's gaze swiveled and then her jaw dropped. "Are those night vision goggles?"

Ranger stayed silent.

"I knew it!" she whispered fiercely. "I knew…"

"You're missing the movie." Ranger interjected quickly. He really didn't want to argue with her about being tactically ready for anything. "I think something's about to happen between Natalie and Ashton."

Marissa glared at him." Something's about to happen between you and me."

"Later." Ranger said as he gave her his best wolf grin.

Marissa threw her hands up in frustration. The man was infuriating.

With as loud, angry huff she sank back in her seat and forced her concentration on what was going on on the big screen. The actors were talking. She looked at her watch. An hour and five minutes to go. Damn. Her eyes cut across the room to Joe and Stephanie. His arm was resting on the seatback and Stephanie's head lay comfortably on his shoulder. Marissa sighed. Ranger had been right. This wasn't such a great idea.


End file.
